Quintiq’s optimization team continues to set world records for scheduling optimization

Quintiq, a global leader in supply chain planning and optimization (SCP&O), has set 98 world records in solving the Flexible Job Shop Scheduling Problem (FJSSP). This achievement follows the vehicle routing world records set by the team earlier in 2013.

The FJSSP is based on the constraints of a production environment. Machines run particular operations to fulfill orders placed, which is part of a wider sequence of operations to complete a job order. The goal of each scenario of the FJSSP is to complete the overall set of job orders in the least amount of time. Each instance of the FJSSP has the following characteristics:

The number of jobs and number of machines are specified

Each job consists of a fixed sequence of operations

Certain operations can only be performed on certain machines

The processing time of an operation can differ depending on the machine it runs on

A machine can only run one operation at a time

Using the company’s SCP&O platform, the optimization team investigated all the published instances of the FJSSP and all known results. Of these, the Quintiq optimizer found new best-known solutions for 98 instances. Of these 98 best-known solutions, 80 have been proven to be optimal.

“We have yet to encounter an optimization challenge that cannot be solved by Quintiq. Finding this number of best-known solutions to the FJSSP is a notable achievement and a high testament to the capabilities we can offer clients who face scheduling puzzles,” commented Wim Nuijten, Quintiq’s VP of Optimization Technology. “Production-based organizations can achieve maximum efficiency through optimization, using fewer machines, less production time overall and generate more profit. We call this the profit economy.”

About Quintiq

Every business has its supply chain planning puzzles. Some of those puzzles are large. Some are complex. Some seem impossible to solve. Since 1997, Quintiq has been solving each of those puzzles using a single supply chain planning & optimization software platform. Today, approximately 12,000 users in over 80 countries rely on Quintiq software to plan and optimize workforces, logistics and production. Quintiq has headquarters in the Netherlands and the USA, and offices around the world.